2008 Woodie Awards
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad realization
Tracy Johnson, Opinion Editor
Issue date: 3/22/06 Section: Opinion
It was a feeling I never want to experience again. There I was, sitting in class, running on only two hours of sleep. My week-long headche was pounding even more than it had the few previous days. My heart was beating wildly and my hands were shaking as all of the caffeine and energy drinks surged through me. I was trying so hard to focus and stay awake that my eyes were having hot flashes, almost like they wanted to let off steam. On top of that, I was about to present a paper that topped my charts as one of the crappiest papers I've written here at Sonoma.
Not the greatest feeling in the world.
As if the night couldn't get any worse, a friend who's watched me wither away this semester finally sat me down to talk. The words that shot from her mouth hit me straight in the gut and my heart. She noticed what I've feared the most- she realized that I'm not myself anymore.
Anyone who knows me has an insight to the crazy life that I've led this semester. I intern from 3:30 to 10:00 a.m. Monday through Wednesday for the Morning Show on Alice 97.3 in San Francisco. I'm taking a heavy 16 units in order to graduate in May. On top of that, I work Wednesday through Sunday night. Not exactly a light load, right?
Up until this week, I thought I was doing a satisfactory job at balancing all of this. To make up for the sleep I lose the morning I intern, I would take a nap when I came home. In between class and working, I would get my errands and homework done, which left me enough time at night on the weekends to keep up with this hefty social life of mine. Yes, I was tired, but part of me really liked being so busy. It gave me a sense of pride that I could handle so much and still live the single college life.
As anyone would expect, things are not that easy anymore. As my workload increased for my classes, I said bye-bye to naptime and hello to energy drinks. I started to lose time for the little things, like cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, even sitting down for a meal. Sadly, I lost the time for the big stuff too: hanging out with my best friends and taking time to relax and recuperate.
Not the greatest feeling in the world.
As if the night couldn't get any worse, a friend who's watched me wither away this semester finally sat me down to talk. The words that shot from her mouth hit me straight in the gut and my heart. She noticed what I've feared the most- she realized that I'm not myself anymore.
Anyone who knows me has an insight to the crazy life that I've led this semester. I intern from 3:30 to 10:00 a.m. Monday through Wednesday for the Morning Show on Alice 97.3 in San Francisco. I'm taking a heavy 16 units in order to graduate in May. On top of that, I work Wednesday through Sunday night. Not exactly a light load, right?
Up until this week, I thought I was doing a satisfactory job at balancing all of this. To make up for the sleep I lose the morning I intern, I would take a nap when I came home. In between class and working, I would get my errands and homework done, which left me enough time at night on the weekends to keep up with this hefty social life of mine. Yes, I was tired, but part of me really liked being so busy. It gave me a sense of pride that I could handle so much and still live the single college life.
As anyone would expect, things are not that easy anymore. As my workload increased for my classes, I said bye-bye to naptime and hello to energy drinks. I started to lose time for the little things, like cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, even sitting down for a meal. Sadly, I lost the time for the big stuff too: hanging out with my best friends and taking time to relax and recuperate.